Caterpillars invading new silver birch

tadgellmail · June 2023

For the second year these caterpillars have stripped a new silver birch. It has been planted in the garden of a new build house that was turfed all over on purchase. Site was previous the orchard of derelict farm buildings in the Fens. What are they and how can we get rid of them permanently? Thanks for any help

Dovefromabove · June 2023

Hello @tadgellmail and welcome to the forum 😊

The best, indeed the only practical solution is to attract plenty of small birds (mainly Bluetits, Gt tits etc and house sparrows) to your garden … they will then feed the caterpillars to their nestlings … it’s a win win situation.

It sounds as if you live in a relatively rural location (I know the Fens fairly well 😊 ) so birds may not be used to bird feeders, but I would start now by hanging feeders containing sunflower hearts near the tree. Keep the feed fresh (discarding stuff that goes mouldy while the birds are getting used to it). Hopefully by next spring they’ll be perching in your birch tree queuing up for the feeder … and they’ll be used to your garden being a source of food.

In the autumn you could put up a couple of tit nestboxes (facing northeast to prevent them overheating in strong sunshine) and with any luck they’ll be home to hungry chicks.

There are no sprays that can be used against caterpillars on garden trees, and anyway sprays are indiscriminate and kill the beneficial insects that feed on the aphids that can also feed on the trees and plants.

The best solution is to achieve a natural balance … we’ve not sprayed anything here, and although we may have some aphids and caterpillars etc, they’re never in the numbers that cause a problem.

Good luck 😉

tadgellmail · June 2023

Thank you so much - it’s worth a try!

Caterpillars invading new silver birch

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